Surrender
by Lilly Winters
Summary: Buttercup was always known as the fighter, even when it came to memories in the past brought back to the present. But perhaps she needs to learn to surrender... Ace x Buttercup


**A/N**

**My first Ace x Buttercup story! I hope you like it and feel free to leave feedback! **

**I do NOT own the Powerpuff Girls!**

Rain pelted her skin and a bitter scowl replaced the shocked gap once forming her mouth. The clouds darkened her shadowy features and the city around her, bringing the bitterness of her heart out into the open. With a drawn out sigh, she crossed her arms and peered up at him.

"Are you kidding me? Of all the days, you pick today. I'm wet, it's cold and rainy, and I've had an awful day. Have you come to make it worse?" Buttercup snapped.

He peered at the sopping ground and frowned at the reflection staring back. His sunglasses slid to the bridge of his nose, revealing fatigued, inhuman eyes. His jacket swayed in the lifeless breeze and finally rested against his slender frame. "I just came to talk to you," he whispered lowly.

Her eyebrows furrowed. "You lost your chance," she said at last. Turning away, her boots flicked droplets of rain into the air and stomped away. But before she could reach the end of the alley, a willowy hand rested on her shoulder. Spinning around, tears spilled from her eyes. "I don't want to talk to you, Ace!"

"I've hurt you and I know that. But please, Buttercup. If there is any way you could spare a little of your time to talk with someone like me…" his words trailed off. He stuffed his hands within the comfort of his pockets and sucked in the frigid air slowly. A puff of steam lingered around his mouth, only further proving the frosty weather that lay over the city.

"That was years ago," she shook her head. "It was just some stupid kindergarten crush that I'm over. You used me. And I can never forgive or forget that. Now go away!" She shoved the back of her hands to her eyes and rubbed away the tears. Facing the storm, her face was immediately drenched with rain. The storm, it could camouflage the tears from her family.

"The rain can't hide your pain you know."

She glared at him resentfully. "Because you would know this, huh?"

He shrugged. "It's never worked when I tried. It's a good excuse to go to your home and tell your family that it's just because of the storm and they may buy it, but it doesn't change anything."

"Why are you doing this? If you're just tricking me, then don't waste my time—"

"I _am_ a waste of your time," he admitted. "But I'm not planning anything. I just want to talk."

She looked him up and down, poised back defensively. "You have two minutes," she muttered.

"Life hasn't been easy lately, Buttercup," he sighed. "Me and the Gang had a lot of fun causing trouble, but it was the same routine day after day. And I was sick of it."

"So what? You're expecting sympathy because you got bored with your criminal life?"

"I'm not expecting anything. I just want someone to listen. And I wanted to speak with you. Like I said, it was the same routine each day. After a while, I got so fed up with it all that I didn't even tag along anymore. I usually stayed at the shack. During that time, I got to thinking and realized something. All of my life, I have been doing the same thing: breaking the law or fighting you guys. I never really was happy. Sure it was fun gettin' into trouble and all, but I was never just satisfied with life. And that's when I thought of you," he laughed lowly.

"Me?"

He nodded. "And I couldn't stop. We've been through a lot together since we were both young. Now I get to see you as a beautiful eighteen-year-old who is still determined to kick butt." He chuckled. "Pretty soon, I even started having dreams. I just couldn't get you out of my head! It was frustrating at first because I wasn't used to it. But then I began to look forward to sleeping every night just so I could dream of your smile."

She turned her back to him and squinted her eyes tightly shut. "You know, you're really making this hard."

He walked up behind her and wrapped both arms around her frame. "And you've made it hard to sleep at night. With all those distracting memories flashing through my mind, how is one to sleep peacefully through that?"

When he stood near her, a new warmth filled her body. It was not the comfort you would find inside a cozy home or in the midst of a ray of sun; it was a feeling that she only felt when she saw him. When his hands asked for hers, she reluctantly surrendered. Her eyes glanced timidly up at him. She was not afraid of Ace. She could take him on easily.

She was afraid of getting hurt.

"Do you know how much it hurt when you betrayed me?"

He nodded meekly.

"My sisters thought I was over you immediately, but every time I heard we had to fight the Gangreen Gang, that same feeling returned each time. My life was so much more complicated after that day and I made it that way. I allowed that to happen. I think that's what makes it hard. But do you know what the hardest part was?"

He looked away and shook his head. The burning within; it ached.

"Knowing that you didn't care about me at all."

His mouth dropped, wanting to say what he longed to, needed to tell her for so long. Yet he felt the guilt piling up within and could speak no further. She frowned and began to pull away, shaking her head as if to say, "_You just lost your last chance_."

He gritted his teeth, angry with himself, and brought her into his arms. "I am sorry," his voice cracked. With hands holding her face up to his, he kissed her tenderly. She groaned sorrowfully as his jet black hair trickled across her face. She shook her head and drew back. "You're making this hard," she said, her heart breaking.

"Let me fix my mistakes," he whispered and brought her in for more.

This time, she surrendered.

**A/N**

**So how was it? Sappy? Convincing? I hope they were in character enough. Thanks for reading!**


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